Watchdog group demands policy over officials' tickets

Governor's Super Bowl ticket use draws criticism

A list of people who used the governor's tickets to the Super Bowl has prompted a public watchdog group to again push for the governor and the mayor of Baltimore to come up with a policy about who gets prime seats to football games.

Baltimore's mayor is staying silent about why her office took away prized football tickets from City Council President Jack Young, who briefly addressed the issue Wednesday.
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The tickets weren't freebies, but compared to the premium so many fans paid to go to the game, the group Common Cause said the tickets controlled by Gov. Martin O'Malley were a real perk.

New Orleans was swarming with Ravens fans who paid a pretty penny if they were able to land a ticket on the resale market for Super Bowl XLVII. The average price per ticket on the secondary market for the historic game was as much as $3,300.

Much less expensive were the tickets that automatically went to O'Malley. Because the governor controls a taxpayer-owned skybox at M&T Bank Stadium, O'Malley had access to eight tickets for the Super Bowl -- all offered at face value of $950 to $1,250, according to the governor's office.

Two of the tickets were used by the governor and first lady; two were bought by Baltimore City Delegate Shawn Tarrant, D-District 40; two others were bought by the governor's budget secretary, Eloise Foster; and two went to O'Malley's new staff member, Stephen Neuman, a veteran political adviser widely seen as on board to help O'Malley run for president.

No tickets were used to further state business or were offered to outside groups for purchase, which drew criticism, again, from Common Cause.

"It sounds like the same old crowd of insiders," Common Cause Director James Browning said. "It (has) been an issue for a while."

Last year, Common Cause pushed the governor and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake to establish policies for use of the skyboxes each controls at M&T Bank Stadium and Oriole Park at Camden Yards. As the 11 News I-Team reported last year, the skybox guest lists were dominated by political friends, family and campaign contributors. No such policies have been proposed.

While the Super Bowl tickets controlled by the governor weren't free, Common Cause said it's the price that matters.

"In this case, having access to tickets at face value is the real perk," Browning said.

The governor's office said everyone who used the tickets allocated to the governor paid their own way. Taxpayers did foot the bill for travel, food and lodging for the state troopers who make up the governor's security detail.

Tarrant told 11 News that he didn't go to the game. Instead, he sold the tickets he bought to family friends.